Woodbridge Beach Resort in Kiamba hosted the opening program of Sarangani Bay Festival 2008 with simultaneous competitions in land and sea, including environmental awareness programs.

Sarangani Bay

Sarangani Bay lies between a mangrove forest in Glan (foreground) and the majestic Mt. Matutum. -- Photo by Cocoy Sexcion

Pawikan release

Pawikan release: Local officials led by Governor Migs Dominguez (4th from right) and the community release 30 Olive Ridley hatchlings to signal environmental consciousness and protection of the bay on the first day of Sarangani Bay Festival Friday, May 16 at Kiamba municipality. -- Photo by Cocoy Sexcion

Earlier in the day of May 16, at 7am., a clean-up in the province’s six coastal towns - Alabel, Malapatan, Glan, Maasim, Kiamba and Maitum - ushered in community participation and advocacy for Sarangani Bay.

Also slated at Woodbridge are a rowing race (lumba bugsay), cooking contest (hain kusina), an environmental arts exhibit and a techno-aqua recreational activity.

Sining at Kinaiyahan

Governor Migs Dominguez looks at the artwork of a participant in the Sining at Kinaiyahan (arts and nature) contest among 8 to 12 years old children Friday, May 16, depicting this year's 2008 Sarangani Bay Festival theme: "Sarangani… Celebrating and Protecting the Treasures of the Bay" -- Photo by Cocoy Sexcion

Boat race

Fisherfolk teams composed of either husband and wife, father and daughter, sister and brother, or mother and son race boats at the Lumba Bugsay event to open the Sarangani Bay Festival 2008. It is a 1.5-kilometer race from Banglay Beach to Woodbridge Resort. -- Photo by Cocoy Sexcion

Bong and Norhaima

Couple Bong and Norhaima Saban reach the finish line first for the Lumba Bugsay at the opening of the Sarangani Bay Festival 2008 Friday, May 16. The couple pose after winning the 1.5-kilometer race carries the top prize of P5,000 cash and a 5.5 HP boat engine. -- Photo by Cocoy Sexcion

Fisherfolk families

Fisherfolk families who participated in the Lumba Bugsay event pose after reaching the shore of Woodbridge Resort at Kiamba municipality. -- Photo by Cocoy Sexcion

For the first time, the municipality of Kiamba launched the “Mountain-River-Ocean Adventure,” a human race from the jungles to the sea.

Local government units, non-government organizations and the business sector are coming together to celebrate this year’s bay festival and to increase community awareness in environmental conservation.

“For our third Sarangani Bay Festival, everybody is knocking on our doors,” Governor Migs Dominguez told a press conference last week.

“This means we’re developing equity and credibility in what we are doing, because our cause is healthy,” the governor said.

Sarangani Bay Festival, with the theme this year of “Sarangani… Celebrating and Protecting the Treasures of the Bay”, is a province-wide festival which pays tribute to the bounty of the bay through beach events.

“We are celebrating the beauty and the goodness of the bay,” said Vice Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon.

“Every year people will be reminded of how beautiful and how generous the bay has become for us that we should continue to preserve it,” Solon said.

According to Board Member Arturo Lawa, Sarangani province has “already generated interest with regards to environmental protection.”

“This is evident in the building of Septage Treatment Facilities from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation among the province’s six coastal towns,” said Lawa, chair of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan environment committee.

Lawa said in relation to the Clean Water Act, his committee was now 80% in the formulation of the Water Quality Management Board for Sarangani Bay.

On the other hand, the annual bay festival has triggered the development of beach resorts across the province to accommodate tourists.

Resort growth more than doubled in the white sand shores of Gumasa, the Boracay-like destination in Mindanao.

The tourism office has recorded an 87% increase of tourist arrivals in the province from 2005 to 2007.

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For more information, kindly visit this website: www.sarangani.gov.ph